


Riding on Two Wheels

by lamardeuse



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-08
Updated: 2011-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-14 13:51:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/149861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lamardeuse/pseuds/lamardeuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve has a surprise for Danny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riding on Two Wheels

**Author's Note:**

> Written for winter_elf and originally posted to kissemdanno on LJ.

When he gets the call from Steve to come and hang out on a Saturday morning, he's a little worried and a lot pissed off. Worried because Steve sounded too casual on the phone, like he was hiding something, and pissed off because Rachel had called him last night telling him that Gracie had been invited to a sleepover, and he wasn't going to be able to pick her up until after lunch. He'd already planned to make her pancakes, and they were going to drive up to the North Shore and – you know what, fuck it, he could do it next weekend. He just had to let it go, see Steve and find out what he wanted, then put his best game face on and go pick up his girl.

Except when he shows up at the house, Steve's standing there at the end of the driveway, grinning like Danny's arrived on time for their first date, and no, no, Danny is not thinking that this morning, he's got enough on his mind, thank you. He parks the car on the street and gets out. “Okay, so what's up, McGarrett? You better have malasadas and fresh coffee, because I'm cranky and I need sugar and caffeine, like, five minutes ago.”

“I've got something that will make you a lot happier,” Steve says, still grinning, and Danny's brain immediately supplies about six different interpretations of that, and six of them are filthy. He's still gaping at Steve when the guy turns and shouts, “Come on out!” and Grace emerges from around Steve's truck, wheeling her bike beside her.

“What –” Danny begins, trying to figure out what the hell Grace is doing here with Steve, when he realizes the bike's training wheels have been removed.

Danny takes a deep breath. “Okay, what's going on?”

Steve makes a sweeping gesture. “Grace, would you like to demonstrate?” And Grace beams up at Steve, just _beams_ , and then she's swinging her leg over the seat and –

“Whoa, whoa, no,” Danny says, because he had been thinking about this moment, and had been planning to buy her elbow and knee guards, because this is dangerous, okay. “We should – could you –”

“Danny, Danny,” Steve says, his hand wrapping around Danny's arm as Grace starts pedaling slowly away from them, “it's okay. We've been – practicing.”

“You've – what? That does not make any sense.” He starts walking behind Grace, then jogging, watching for cars, but it's early and Steve's street is always pretty quiet this time of day, especially on the weekends.

“She called me a couple of weeks ago,” Steve says, jogging alongside him, “wanted to surprise you, and asked me if I'd help.”

“Why would she call you? Why not just ask Rachel or step-Stan?”

“I don't know, Danny. But Rachel was fine with it, and I wasn't going to turn down your little girl, okay?” He sounds a little pissy now, and Danny glances at him. “Listen, why don't we just focus on Grace? She wanted to impress her daddy, not listen to you give me the third degree.”

“Yeah,” Danny says, running a hand over his hair, “sorry.” Grace is slowing now, wobbling a little. Danny runs to catch her, but before he can reach her she's stopped on her own and is climbing off the bike.

“How'd I do, Danno?” she asks, turning to him with eager eyes as Steve takes the bike from her, “did I do okay?”

“You did amazing, sweetheart,” Danny says, catching her in a hug and scooping her up into his arms. “My little girl is growing up,” he says, looking over her shoulder at Steve, who's watching him with a wary smile. Danny smiles back, nodding, and something loosens inside him when the tension around Steve's eyes disappears.

   
   
   
   
 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

   
   
   
   
 

Steve takes them out for pancakes to celebrate, and afterward it seems to make sense to invite Steve along on the drive he'd planned for the day. Steve's a great tour guide, offering all kinds of stories of what it was like to grow up on the island, answering all of Grace's questions about everything under the Hawaiian sun. Of course Steve's a regular encyclopedia about everything from the palm trees to the weird-coloured beetles Grace finds sunning themselves on a rock in the park, the ones Danny would have been sure were poisonous.

“You're totally paranoid about nature, aren't you?” Steve asks later, eyes dancing. Grace is eating an ice cream cone approximately the size of her head, and is currently a few yards away watching a guy on the beach throw a frisbee to his dog. The mutt leaps about six feet to catch it, hanging in the air for a split second as though it can hover.

“I have a healthy respect for things that can kill me and mine, yeah,” Danny says. “Your point being?”

“You need to relax,” Steve says. “She's a tough little cookie, just like her dad –”

“You are such a comedian,” Danny says.

“– and she's going to do just fine. Hawaii is a great place for kids.”

“Yeah,” Danny says, “she seems happy, doesn't she?”

“She's got you for a father. Why wouldn't she be?”

Danny turns to look at him slowly, frowning. Steve's staring straight ahead, though, eyes glued to Grace like she might disappear at any moment. If Danny didn't know better, he'd swear there was a faint flush riding high on McGarrett's cheekbones.

“Thanks,” Danny murmurs, but his voice is so low he's not sure if Steve hears him until he nods.

   
   
   
   
 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

   
   
   
   
 

“I like Steve,” Grace says, as they're standing in Steve's kitchen later, preparing vegetables to go on the barbecue.

Danny looks up at Steve, who's out on the patio, cleaning the grill with typical single-minded focus. “I'm glad you like him, honey,” Danny says.

“He's a great teacher,” Grace tells him solemnly. “He knows a lot about bike riding.”

Danny bites back a laugh, thinking about Steve's trick driving the crotch rocket up the stairs a couple of weeks back. “Yeah, well, some things I'm glad he didn't get around to teaching you.”

“I've been thinking about it,” Grace continues, handing Danny another perfectly washed bell pepper, “and I've decided I'd like to call him Uncle Steve.”

“Uh,” Danny says, narrowly avoiding slicing off his own finger. “What?”

“Well, I was talking to Martha at school – she has two daddies – and she calls one of them Dad and one of them Daddy, but I think that's really confusing, so I thought Uncle would be better. And Kono says it's a term of respect.”

Danny's brain is starting to hurt as it chases its own tail. “Grace, Steve and I – what makes you think –”

“Grill's all ready!” Steve shouts, poking his head in. “How are those vegetables coming, troops?”

“I am not one of your troops,” Danny complains, and Steve grins and shoots back, “Oh, you totally are,” and Grace beams at both of them and okay, so maybe he just answered his own question.

   
   
   
   
 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

   
   
   
   
 

“She thinks we're a couple,” Danny says later, after Grace falls asleep on the couch while watching _Enchanted_ , and Danny does not want to know why Steve has that DVD.

“Yeah, kind of figured that when she first called me,” Steve says, taking a swig of his beer as they sit side by side on the breakwater. “Eight-year-olds aren't exactly subtle.”

“Are you saying my kid can't do subtle?”

“Surprising, isn't it? You'd think she'd be genetically predisposed.”

“Laugh it up,” Danny says, “I'm trying to be serious here, and you're giving me jokes.”

“What do you want me to say?” Steve snaps.

“I don't know, I don't know. It just doesn't make sense. You'd think Rachel would have clued her in at some point.”

Steve scrubs at his face with a hand. “Danny, Rachel thinks the same thing.”

Danny stares at him. “She – she what?”

“Why do you think she gave me her blessing to spend time with Grace? She's trying to make an effort to – to accept me.”

“Oh my God, _now_ she decides to be accommodating?” Danny exclaims, leaping to his feet. “Jesus Christ.”

Steve stands with him, then winces. “What?” Danny demands.

“Nothing,” Steve says, shaking out the hand he just used to push himself up with. “I burned my hand on the barbecue earlier, and I –”

“Oh, for fuck's sake,” Danny says, setting down his beer and taking hold of Steve's hand, turning it so that he can see it in the light from the house. Sure enough, there's an angry pink mark across the meat of Steve's thumb. “You didn't put anything on it?”

“No, I didn't put anything on it,” Steve murmurs, “it's nothing.”

“It's not nothing,” Danny persists, “it's a second degree burn, and you need disinfectant and a bandage –”

“Only if you have Spider-Man,” Steve quips, and Danny looks up, sees Steve looking down at him with – shit, with _everything_ in his eyes, all the things he's been letting Danny see in bits and pieces over the past few months, all at once, and suddenly Danny feels like the dumbest guy ever. _Some detective I am,_ he thinks, but it's okay, because somehow this feels like the right time.

“You'll get Barbie and like it,” Danny says, hand reaching up to curl around Steve's neck, and Steve murmurs, “yeah, okay,” and leans down to meet Danny halfway.


End file.
